the 366-day photography project: week 23

About the 366-day photography project: On August 1st, 2015, I began a 366-day photography project. The goal that I had set for myself was to take at least one photograph a day for 366 days, which would take into account the fact that 2016 is a leap year. I am now in the sixth month of the project. The subjects of the project have changed as the seasons have changed.
When I started the project, it was a bright, warm summer day, and I went to Buckhorn Island State Park to inaugurate the project. Buckhorn Island State Park is a wildlife sanctuary, a restored wetland, and an important bird area in Grand Island. It has a very scenic marsh that connects with the Niagara River. On a clear day, if you are standing in Buckhorn Island State Park, you can see the foam rising from Niagara Falls.
Five months later, I haven’t missed a day in the project. Buckhorn Island State Park was such an interesting place to visit that I decided to take pictures there once each season. I returned in October to take pictures of the park in autumn. On a clear snowy day, I will return to take the winter pictures. That could be later this week!
Below is a photographic recap of this past week, starting on Tuesday. 

The painting of the bears was made on Tuesday, a very cold day. I went to Zumba and then came home and painted.

The weather changed on Wednesday, becoming warmer. As the week progressed, it also became much rainier. On Wednesday, I went to the evensong at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, where five priests were given the title of honorary canon. One of the priests was Father Earle King of Saint Martin in the Fields Church in Grand Island. Not only was he given the title, he was also celebrating the 30th anniversary of his ordination as an Episcopal priest.

Bishop Bill Franklin and the new honorary canons.

Father Earle was happy that 30 persons from Saint Martin’s came to share in his special day. Here he is with Bishop Bill.

Traveling to the evensong was an adventure. Part of my trip was on a bike path. This is a pond, now frozen.

This is Woods Creek, one of a number of creeks that criss cross Grand Island. Other creeks include Gun Creek, Spicer Creek, and Burnt Ship Creek.

Later at home… bears are always photogenic.

Here is the amazing Zoe, always lovely. I once wrote about her many meows. She is an extremely verbal cat. At the age of 15, she is healthy and in good spirits.

On Thursday, I went to Stella Niagara Educational Park for a painting lesson. This is my painting. It is called “negative painting.” I wrote a post about that on my art blog: sun, moon, stars.

When I looked outside on Friday morning, I saw a sky shimmering with color.

What a wonderful way to welcome the sun back to the sky.

On Saturday, my friend Amy and I went to the Village Inn for lunch before our zumba class. The Village Inn is a locally owned restaurant in the very cool Ferry Village neighborhood of Grand Island. It is cool because it looks like a fishing village. The Village Inn offers wonderful homemade soups. I had a cup of seafood gumbo and Amy had a cup of beans and greens. We also shared garlic bread with tomatoes and spinach. It was enough to feed more than two, so I took the leftovers home. After lunch, Amy and I went to our tap dance class at the Niagara Dance Center.

Sunday morning at Saint Martin in the Fields Church. The gospel for the day was the baptism of Jesus Christ. This gospel was brought to life by the church’s “Epiphany Players.”

John the Baptist baptizes Jesus and the holy spirit, the the form of a dove, descends on Jesus. Everyone seems startled by the sight.

Here is the Rev. Canon Earle King (aka Father Earle) in action.

Back at home, it is teatime. Yes, I may be an adult chronologically but I still enjoy playing with my food!

The family gets together at my sister Vivian’s house to celebrate my nephew’s birthday. This is one of the decorations at her house.

Here is another view of the same decoration.

Here is a closeup version of Vivian’s poinsettia. She has a cat named Angel. For a long time, cat owners were afraid to bring poinsettias home because they were afraid that the plant was poisonous for cats. It turns out that poinsettias are not toxic for our feline friends, but that other plants are, such as amaryllis and Easter lily.

Little bears and a big bear…

Here are the little bears, still dressed for Christmas.

My sister made this lasagna for dinner yesterday. It was delicious.

What a delicious dinner it was… lasagna, asparagus, and garlic bread. The dessert was my contribution: applesauce brownies. Thank you, Vivian, for a fabulous meal! Next week: We’re starting to get snow. Maybe some winter scenes?? Check back next week to see for sure.